Globally recognized as one of the best cellars in the world, Chateau Latour, located in the famous Pauillac village in the Medoc region in Bordeaux, is becoming a symbol of high class and luxury for Chinese consumers.

To taste more Latour wines than those available in the market, and to know more about the French estate of nearly 700 years, local wine lovers can go to the Latour Room in InterContinental Shenzhen, where a selection of Latour wines is being served.

The newly opened room, which is one of the VIP rooms of the hotel’s French restaurant Pipette, is able to accommodate up to 12 guests. Following the Spanish decoration style of the InterContinental, Latour Room is mostly in red — red walls, red curtains, red candles; even the ceiling is red and reflects the red lights.

“The red color perfectly complements the Latour wines in this room,” said Matthew Siegel, a senior representative with ASC Fine Wines, which is the largest distributor of quality wines in China and the sole supplier to the Latour Room.

Siegel told the Shehzhen Daily that the room was the idea of Frederic Engerer, general manager of Chateau Latour, during his visit to Shenzhen last December. Being the first of kind in China, Latour Room serves dozens of Chateau Latour wines with AOC labels, which guarantee the authenticity and quality of French wines.

“This is an exclusive place serving AOC-labeled Latour wines in South China,” said Siegel.

The exclusivity can also be seen in 15 barrels of Chateau Latour, photos on the walls introducing the history of the wine estate, and a pipette, a glass instrument used to test wines.

To complement the luxury wines is French cuisine prepared by Pipette’s French chef Thibaut Pouplard.

(Shenzhen Daily July 2, 2008)